Chuck for rotating and advancing tubing or other material



April 6, 1943. E. F. TILLEY 2,316,117

CHUCK FOR ROTATING AND ADVANCING TUBING OR OTHER MATERIAL Filed Feb.-11, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 Fig.1

O0 OO INVENTOR.

mm: 1. Elle,

April 6, 1943. E. F. TILLEY 2,316,117

CHUCK FOR ROTATING AND ADVANCING TUBING OR OTHER MATERIAL Filed Feb. 11,1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z5 z? I \y I INVENTOR v lia na imli'fl 'll BY m291%,

Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHUCK FOR- ROTATINGAND ADVAN CIN G TUBING OR OTHER MATERIAL 1 Claim.

The invention herein disclosed relates to mechanism for rotating andadvancing tubular or other forms of stock and is a continuation in partof copending patent application Ser. No. 209,185 filed May 21, 1938,Patent 2,251,642 of Aug. 5, 1941.

Objects of the invention are to provide simple, practical means whichwill grip the stock firm enough for both rotating and feeding itaxially, without crushing or otherwise injuring or impairing 1t; toenable the regulation of the turning movement in respect to the axialfeed or conversely, the feed in respect to the rotation; to avoid strainor wear of parts and to compensate readily for such wear as may occur;to enable ready adjustments to compensate for variations in size ofstock and in general to provide an efficient device of the characteroutlined, of compact design and consisting of but relatively few, sturdyparts, well capable of carrying the loads imposed upon them.

The foregoing and other desirable objects are attained by novel featuresof construction, combinations and relations of parts as hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and broadly coveredin the claim.

The drawings illustrate one commercial embodiment of the invention andcertain modifications. The structure however may be further modified andchanged all within the true intent and scope of the invention ashereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 is a broken and partly sectional top plan view of one embodimentof the invention.

Fig. 2 is a broken part sectional front view of the stock rotating andadvancing mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken sectional view as on substantially theplane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail as on line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of combinedworm gear and stock feeding roll.

Fig. 6 is a broken sectional view illustrating one form of change speedgearing for driving the stock feed rolls at different selected speeds.

Fig. 7 is a broken sectional detail of a form of anti-friction thrustbearing for the worm drive shafts.

The machine illustrated is in the nature of a special chuck having stockgripping jaws in the form of rolls on axes at ri angles t0 the axis ofthe stock and driven, in the rotation of the chuck at such speed as toadvance the work at a desired rate in proportion to the speed ofrotaengaging bevel pinions H, on the outer ends of radial shafts 18,carrying worms l9, at the inner ends driving work engaging worm gears20.

For the purpose of gripping the tubing or other stock 2|, the worm gearsmay be cut with a relatively sharp screw thread, which to some extent,will bite into the surface of the work.

To determine the extent of such bite or grip on the stock, the wormgears may be mounted in radially adjustable relation, as indicatedparticularly in Fig. 4, by mounting them on spindles 22, located in theslots 23, in the projecting brackets 24, on the face of the rigidretaining ring l5, said spindles being adjusted and secured in thedesired relation by the set screws 25.

The brackets 24, are shown as radially slotted at 26, to receive, guideand brace the worm gears, the latter being rotatably engaged on thespindles 22, and slidable in the slots 26, in the radial adjustment ofthe spindles required to set the gears in proper gripping engagementwith the work,

Three of the work engaging worm gears are shown Fig. 2, spacedequi-distantly about the chuck center. These afford a good grip on thework and distribute the pressure so uniformly that the maximum pressureneeded may be applied without crushing or otherwise injuring even a thinwalled tubing. It is contemplated however, that a greater or a lessnumber of these work feeding gears may be employed if found orconsidered desirable.

The main or supporting gear ID, and the relatively rotatable ring gearI4, carried thereby, are shown as separately driven by spur gears 21,28, on a shaft 29, which as indicated in Fig. 1, may be operated by apulley or other drive element 30.

By proper selection of the gear ratios, the worm gears 20, carried bythe main gear ID, will be rotated from the ring gear 14, at a speed toadvance the work through the chuck at a rate proportioned as desired inrelation to the speed of chuck rotation, as for example, to wind on astrip of finning material at a certain helical pitch angle, as disclosedin the parent case Ser. No. 209,185, Patent 2,251,642.

If desired, the two sets of drive gearing, that is,

to the main gear or head of the chuck and to the worm gears may be madereadily changeable, so as to meet various requirements.

In place of drive gearing of different ratios, '3

change speed gear sets of the constantly variable type may be employed.Thus as shown in Fig. 6, a continuously variable gear set of the Reeveor other type now on the market may be used at 3|, interposed betweenthe drive 32, from the motor or power source and the sprocket gear drive33, to gear 28, which in this instance, is loosely mounted on the shaft29, which drives the chuck head. Thus by means of the speed controlmember at 34, the worm gears 20, may be driven faster or slower, or, becaused to dwell or even to rotate in reverse direction.

The worm gears, in their character as chuck jaws, are set to grip thestock sufiiciently to rotate the same against the pull of winding on afin strip, or performing other work and hence the end thrust on theworms I 9, at times may be quite heavy. To take care of these thrustloads, the

'worms I 9, may be backed up with anti-friction thrust bearings, such asshown at 35, Fig. 7.

AS an aid to gripping the stock for rotating purposes, one or more orall the worm gears may be grooved peripherally as indicated at 36, inFig. 5, to provide the effectof separated'arcuate teeth, such as 31, 38,39, 40, cross threaded at 4|, to match the worm.

While ordinarily it may be preferred to have the concavity of the wormgear substantially match the curvature of the tubing or other stock,substantially as indicated in Fig. 4, this may not be essential andparticularly so when the rolls are grooved as in Fig. 5, for in suchcase, different ones of the separated toothed portions 31, 38, etc.. maycoact sumciently with stock of widely different diameters represented at42. The rotation of the worm gears presents continuously fresh grippingfaces to the work. These gripping faces may be shaped as indicated inFig. 2, with three equal-distantly spaced rolls to substantiallycompletely surround the work. Hence a relatively light pressure mayordinarily be sufficient for gripping purposes. The side walls of thebrackets in which the radially disposed rolls are mounted brace therolls in this relation, enabling them to turnwithout binding or otherobjectionable reactions.

The retainer ring l5, which holds the ring gear M, in place and whichcarries the chuck feed rolls 20, and drive connections thereto, is shownas removably bolted at 43, on a shouldered portion 44, of the chuckhead, where it is firmly located but readily removed at any time. Thisunit mounting of the rolls and drive mechanism enables a completeinterchange of parts by simple substitution of one such unit foranother.

The passage through the rotating chuck head may be of a size to act as arotary guide for directing the stock centrally to the stock gripping andadvancing rolls.

What is claimed is:

A chuck for rotating and advancing tubing, comprising a main gear havinga tubular hub extending from one face and having stepped shoulders ofdifferent diameters at the opposite face of the same, a ring gearrotatably seated 011 the shoulder of largest diameter and having gearteeth at the rim of the same by which it may be driven independently ofthe driving of the main gear, a retainer ring rigidly seated on theshoulder of lesser diameter and extending radially outwardly inoverlapping relation over the ring gear, to thereby rotatably confinesaid ring gear in seated relation on the main gear, three rigid bracketsprojecting in equidistantly spaced relation from the face of saidretainer ring, said brackets having radially disposed slots therein,radial shafts joumalled in said brackets in back of the radial slots insaid brackets, bevel pinions on the outer ends of said radial shafts,bevel gear teeth on the face of said ring gear in mesh with said bevelpinions, worms on the inner ends of said radial shafts, threeequidistantly spaced concavely toothed radially disposed worm gears inthe slots in said brackets and in mesh with said worms at the back ofsaid slots, spindles on which said worm gears are rotatably mounted.said brackets having radially extending slots receiving opposite endportions of said spindles and thrust screws adjustable inwardly in saidbrackets to apply positive pressure to the opposite end portions of thespindles engaged in said slots for positively locating the inner rimportions of the worm gears in position to center and to positively griptubing extending through the tubular hub of the main gear.

EDWIN F. TILLEY.

